Dem rep demands Secret Service expand Trump protective perimeter: 'Unacceptable'
A Democratic congressman demanded that the U.S. Secret Service expand the protective perimeter around former President Donald Trump following a second assassination attempt on Sunday.
"Two assassination attempts in 60 days on a former President & the Republican nominee is unacceptable," Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., wrote. "The Secret Service must come to Congress tomorrow, tell us what resources are needed to expand the protective perimeter, & lets allocate it in a bipartisan vote the same day."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was briefed by the acting director of the Secret Service and applauded the Secret Service "for their quick response to ensure former President Trump’s safety."
"There is no place in this country for political violence of any kind," Schumer wrote. "The perpetrator must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., appeared to reference the assassination attempt on Trump indirectly in a social media post.
"Political violence has no place in a democratic society," Jeffries wrote.
Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Florida Democrat running against Republican Sen. Rick Scott for his seat in the upper chamber, also appeared to allude to the assassination attempt with a broader message.
"Gun violence, and political violence, have no place in our society. PERIOD," she wrote on X.
Scott, a Trump 2024 campaign surrogate, said he reached out to Trump on Sunday and spoke with Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw about the assassination attempt.
"God bless our law enforcement. The vile rhetoric toward Trump is dangerous and must stop," Scott wrote.
The FBI said Sunday that it appeared Trump was the subject of another assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, just nine weeks after the July 13 assassination attempt that unfolded during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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Authorities say U.S. Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.
An agent fired, and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the weapon behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, Bradshaw said. The suspect was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county. The incident spawned new questions about Secret Service protective operations after the agency's admitted failures in preventing the assassination attempt this summer.
The man who was detained had a calm, flat demeanor and showed little emotion when he was stopped, according to Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.
"He never asked, ‘What is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it," Snyder said.
"There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!" Trump wrote in an email to supporters. "Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!"
Another Democratic reaction in Florida came from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who wrote on X, "Horrified to hear that former President Trump was the victim of an attempted attack today in West Palm Beach and grateful that he is unharmed. Violence of this kind goes against everything we stand for as Americans."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.